oh my
come to mama
real butter pound cake
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Sunday, May 30, 2010 4 comments
Labels: baking
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Saturday, May 29, 2010 0 comments
Labels: journal
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Wednesday, May 26, 2010 5 comments
Labels: fabric collage
serendipity- see "THE MUSE" in one of the flowers?
How cool is that? (click to enlarge)
Not only do I love to keep art journals, I also love making them. I have the Zutter binding system, so I can create any size or shape and a variety of papers. This will be either the front of the back of the journal- not sure which yet...it evolves and changes as I make them. I've sold many of these on eBay and plan on offering them at my etsy shop soon. I usually include original artwork with in the journal- included as a page- just for fun.
I keep several art journals- each has a distinct purpose. One for quotes I find along the way, one for ideas, one that is a 'typical' art journal with pages of ongoing art making. One for watercolors...you get the idea...
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Wednesday, May 26, 2010 0 comments
Labels: art journal
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Wednesday, May 19, 2010 2 comments
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Monday, May 17, 2010 1 comments
I've spent the weekend in my studio making a collage. I am loving this! Talking about my being stuck, being lost, losing my art...brought it right back. I am so relieved.
I am making this collage for a friend as a surprise. I would post pictures, but I think this friend may read this blog and it wouldn't be a surprise then...I'll post pictures after I give it to her. In the mean time, I emailed a picture of a work-in-progress to artist Laura Breitman, who taught me this collage process in a workshop. She loved what I am doing and it was very nice to receive such nice compliments from her; I really admire her work. Make sure you visit her website link- her work is AMAZING!
All in all, a great art making weekend!
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Sunday, May 16, 2010 0 comments
Labels: collage
...so I spent the entire day in my studio working on a collage...and this after I posted yesterday that I just couldn't get into making art and was going to take a vacation from art making...amazing how that works...
ha! so much for my art sabbatical...but it FELT DIFFERENT today. I was making this collage for me - for fun. Actually I am making it for a friend, as a surprise. But it's not for sale and so I have no inner dialogue yakking at me saying dumb things like... "will this sell?" or "who would buy this?" or, "hows that marketing coming along?" grrrr...
...I am so over that inner dialogue. It keeps me from making art. It slips away and I get disgusted. Then I decide to leave only to then spend the day making art. Maybe that is part of my process...I need to reach that point of feeling like I fell out of love with art, emotionally walk away from it...only to come running back...And I had so much fun today.
...sounds like a lovers spat if you ask me.
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Friday, May 14, 2010 1 comments
Labels: artist journey
Lately I can't seem to get into my studio and paint or make a collage. I think I may be suffering from some burnout regarding my art making. I have made a lot of art over the past few years. There is a part of me that needs to just stop.
A part of it is that I want to make more personal art, more experimental art- not art for sale. But even as I wrote that last sentence, I was nodding my head NO...I just think I need to stop for a time, all together.
And the very interesting thing about all of this...I am unemployed. I have the time. I have complete freedom at this point in my life to do ANYTHING I choose to do. And lately, I am choosing to read, cook, knit, garden, bake. Homey things. Quiet things. Today I took a long walk around the lakes in our town. I then sat on a park bench and took a long sun bath while I listened to a book on tape. Then I took myself to the local diner and had a delicious cup of homemade green pea soup. Before that I cleaned out my refrigerator. After the walk I sat out on my deck under the umbrella and listened to more of my book on tape. Nothing about art. Noting about painting. Nothing about collage. And I had what I would describe as a delightful day.
Maybe being unemployed is part of it. For the last 20 years I have worked as a graphic designer and for the last 10 years I have also been painting, making collages and assemblages. I am TIRED. As much as I love art, it's been my profession for a long long time and I am simply tired.
I don't think I am suffering from some sort of depression. I don't think I am quitting painting. I need to take a vacation. Let it come back to be as it wants to come. I know if I try to force it, the art is terrible.
I love READING about painting. I love looking at other peoples painting and art blogs. I also enjoy reading about painting technique. Perhaps my well is empty and I need to fill it with looking, resting, seeing and enjoying art. But right now, I just don't feel like making art. I hereby give myself permission to go 'on sabbatical' for however time I need to take...and without guilt. I will once again paint paintings, collage and make assemblages. Just not right now.
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Thursday, May 13, 2010 0 comments
Labels: artist journey
This is a paper doll I made a couple of years ago. It's about OCD. I know a person who has a touch of OCD and numbers are a big part. She was my inspiration. The body is a playing card that I altered. Her legs and arms move. You can fold up the arms and legs and her body is the size of an ATC, 2.5" x 3.5". If you look closely, I added tiny watch pieces into the collage on her body.
I've been going through older artwork and posting some of it. Sometimes it's good to look back. Art is one of those areas where I do like to look back. I usually take a picture of each finished piece. For a time I was really into making paper dolls. I sold them all - over 2 dozen of them! There is a whole world of paper doll collectors!
I'll post more this week.
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Tuesday, May 11, 2010 2 comments
Labels: paper doll
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Saturday, May 08, 2010 1 comments
Labels: altered books, mixed media
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."
- Aristotle -384–322 B.C.
I am humming John Denver's song "Thank God I'm a country girl(boy)" as I write this...I am on my deck with my computer (dont you just love laptops and wireless?) In the half hour I have been sitting here in my beach chair making a shopping list, I have seen or heard:
3 deer walked by and munched on the wild grape vines that grow nearby
a bright red cardinal sits to my left
A blue jay is screeching
A crow is cawing
a yellow swallow tail butterfly just flew by
several squirrels scurried by
bees buzzed
a moth flutterd
dandilion seeds are floating by
I can hear 3 different woodpeckers pecking
I can hear a cricket
I can hear a lawn mower mowing
I can hear the leaves rustle in the wind
...and I live 55 miles from mid-town Manhattan...how amazing is that??
I dont live on a farm however, as the song says, I live in a condo...but it's the country non the less...at night I can't leave my deck slider door open becasue local racoons and bear are known to enter houses looking for food. The deer are so close and so frequent that we know to look for deer ticks after an outing. I know dozens of people who have hit a deer while driving, myslef included. Hummingbirds are regular visitors.
Like I said, Thank God I'm a country girl...
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Wednesday, May 05, 2010 1 comments
I came upon this image today.
It brought tears to my eyes...
"Thank You"
created by Victoria North,
used with permission by the artist.
My step-son is in Iraq on his second deployment there...and seeing this today made me think of him and all the young men and women who yesterday were mere children and today defend our country.
So often we get caught up in the everyday and we forget that they put themselves in harms way for our comfort and our freedom. May this be a gentle reminder of all those brave men and women who serve in our armed services. Please say a prayer for them today, to stay safe.
The artist sells this as a greeting card. Click here to see more about Victoria North.
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Tuesday, May 04, 2010 0 comments
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Monday, May 03, 2010 1 comments
Quote of the day: "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." Pablo Picasso
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Sunday, May 02, 2010 1 comments
Labels: quote
Posted by Elizabeth Parsons at Saturday, May 01, 2010 3 comments
Labels: Illustration Friday